The boy didn't wake for hours.
Mira had him taken to a sealed chamber beneath the barracks, far from the others. No one else was allowed near him. Not the guards. Not the slaves. Not even Jace.
Only Auron.
He sat in the dimly lit room, watching the boy sleep.
The shattered mask pieces lay wrapped in cloth beside the bed. Every time Auron touched them, he felt a chill. The fragments pulsed faintly—like they still remembered what they had been.
The system had absorbed part of the broken energy. His own mask was changing, too. Not physically. Not yet. But he could feel it.
Something growing inside it.
Watching.
Learning.
The boy stirred, and Auron leaned forward.
His eyes opened slowly. The blackness was gone. His irises were now a dull gray, empty and distant.
"You're awake," Auron said quietly.
The boy didn't respond at first. Just stared at the ceiling.
Then, softly, "I thought I died."
"You almost did."
"I felt it leave me. Like my skin was being peeled off."
Auron nodded. "That was the creature. The echo."
The boy's fingers twitched. "It wasn't always there. It started with a whisper. A soft voice. It said it could help me escape. That it knew who I was. That I wasn't just a rat in the pit."
"That's how it starts," Auron said.
"It showed me… memories. Ones I didn't think were mine. A family. A burning house. A woman screaming."
"That wasn't yours," Auron said flatly. "The Abyss steals. It wraps you in lies. Gives you someone else's pain to make you think it's giving you power."
The boy turned his head slowly. "Then why didn't you kill me?"
"Because I've heard the same whispers," Auron replied. "And I still haven't broken."
The silence between them stretched.
Then the boy asked, "What's your name?"
"Auron."
The boy blinked. "I heard that name before. The guards mentioned it… the nobles fear it."
Auron didn't respond.
"You're the one they buried, aren't you?" the boy continued. "The prince. The fallen heir."
"I was."
"And now?"
"Now I'm something else."
---
Outside the chamber, Mira leaned against the wall, listening.
She wasn't supposed to eavesdrop. But Auron had grown too unpredictable to ignore. Every day, he seemed to sink deeper into whatever force lay below this world. Every day, he looked less human.
She had reported it to the Capital, but no reply had come.
Only silence.
Which meant they were afraid.
Or worse—interested.
She didn't know which was more dangerous.
---
Later, Auron left the chamber and made his way to the Forge Tunnels.
No one followed him.
He walked slowly, hand resting on the hilt of his sword, shadow flickering beside him even without light.
He didn't go there to train.
He went to listen.
The Abyss was louder now.
Not in words, but in feeling.
The moment he stepped into the deepest hall, the air changed. Cold swept across his skin. His heartbeat slowed. The system opened on its own.
\[Whispering Mask – Connection: 15%]
\[Fragmented Echo Detected Nearby – Buried]
\[Corruption Level: 14% – Unstable]
He stopped walking.
The wall to his right was cracked—barely noticeable. But something behind it called to him. Not like before. Not hunger. Not power.
Recognition.
He placed his hand on the stone.
The whisper came immediately.
"You wear what was mine."
Auron narrowed his eyes.
"Speak."
The voice was different from the one in the mask. Older. Deeper.
"I was the first to bind the Whisper. I fed it blood and silence. It grew. It took shape. It watched through me."
Auron gripped the hilt tighter.
"What happened to you?"
"I listened too long."
The wall pulsed. A glyph glowed faintly where his fingers rested.
"You will become me," the voice said. "You think you walk your own path, but there are no choices in the Abyss. Only steps toward the same end."
Auron stepped back.
The system blinked.
\[Warning: Long-term contact with this Fragment will accelerate Mask Sync and Mental Instability]
\[Option: Break Seal – Risk: High]
\[Reward: Unknown]
Auron stared at the wall.
Then turned away.
Not yet.
He wouldn't break the seal.
Not until he was strong enough to face what lay behind it.
---
Back in the pit, Jace was waiting for him.
He sat on a stone bench, nervously chewing dry root.
"You look worse every day," he said as Auron approached.
"Thanks."
Jace stood up. "I mean… stronger. But also colder."
"I don't sleep much."
"You never did."
There was a pause.
Then Jace said, "Something's coming, isn't it?"
"Yes."
"From down there?"
"No," Auron said. "From up above."
Jace frowned. "The nobles?"
"They know the Abyss has taken root. Mira was the scout. The next ones they send won't ask questions."
Jace lowered his voice. "Then we need to leave."
"We can't."
"Why not?"
Auron looked up at the dark ceiling.
"Because I'm not done here."
---
That night, the dreams returned.
But they weren't his.
He saw fire.
A tower collapsing.
A mask burning in a child's hands.
A face, twisted and grinning, eyes stitched shut with silver thread.
Then a whisper—louder than any he had heard before.
**"You are the door."**
Auron woke in sweat.
His skin glowed faintly in the dark.
The mark on his chest—the one from the Abyssal Core—had grown.
New veins stretched outward.
And the mask beside his bed was no longer white.
It was turning gray.
Piece by piece.
Like it was waiting for something.
Or someone.
To finish it.